I read Mostly Married by Lisa Manuel back in 2008, and thought it was thoughtfully written, with a great premise. It took me a few years to track down Mostly a Lady but I was hoping it would live up to the promise of the first book. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work for me.
Mostly Married by Lisa Manuel
(2005, Regency Historical)
Grade: 3
Widow Eliza Kent has been thrown out into the streets after her husband’s death, and just as she’s facing death herself, a carriage accident gives her an opportunity to take the identity of another woman – Elizabeth Mendoza. She is rescued by the handsome and gallant Dylan Fergusson, the Scottish brother in law of a duke, but she had no idea she was taking the identity of a woman on the run…
This started off really well. The setup was intriguing and the characters interesting and unusual. Elizabeth’s attempt to fit into society (or at least, into Dylan’s family) kept me turning the pages. But then the book lost its way. The section at Wakefield seemed to go on forever, and once the action moved to London, the situation became confusing and frustrating. It jumped around from one character to another and the pacing went from tedious to too much information crammed into a few pages. It’s unfortunate that the author came up with such a unique premise but just couldn’t see it through. I ended up skimming the last quarter of the book.
On the positive side, my paper book collection is now down to 129 books!
Karen Wheless
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